I'll add a bit of dry wood to the fire.... could this be the reason Ferrari have been covering the Car's camera? Do we have a case of teams spying what goes on in the garage? I always thought the reason they covered had nothing to do with the steering wheel which is always highly visible to everyone anyways when they get a podium finish since the cars are parked in front of all the people "with the steering wheel attached".

I completely agree with your post except last part of it.... There is nothing to enjoy in this new F1 era. Not because Ferrari is not winning WDC and/or CWC, but because it is so boring and predictable!

i tend to totally agree with you mate, but we can say the same about ferrari glorious years 2000-2004.....especially 2004 when ferrari was dominant....other NON ferrari fans mush have been bored also due to predictability of that era....

the issues wiht Mercedes dominance is that they are PLAYING with us....just when we think we've caught them from behind in terms of pure speed and performance.....then they "loosen the power tap" a little more so that they have an advantage again.....they've been playing wiht us ever since this new hybrid era came in 2014

...the new SF90 in the MATTE RED, to me it looks amazing. Let's hope it's gonna be as FAST as it looks.

I'll add a bit of dry wood to the fire.... could this be the reason Ferrari have been covering the Car's camera? Do we have a case of teams spying what goes on in the garage? I always thought the reason they covered had nothing to do with the steering wheel which is always highly visible to everyone anyways when they get a podium finish since the cars are parked in front of all the people "with the steering wheel attached".

Its not the steering wheel they are spying on, it’s the settings we input prior to qualy and the race. Nothing to be gained when it’s parked at the podium.

So now Seb is saying Ferrari are damaging their tyres more than others. That's obviously in relation to other teams and not just a fact that they have high tyre wear. Earlier in the season Ferrari were somewhat better than Merc on the softest compounds (special tyre excluded) and Merc were better on the harder ones. Now Merc are at least as good, if not better on the softest and now they seem to be 1 second quicker on the harder ones. That's a huge swing in performance and gap in only three races. How is that even possible? New Merc suspension and rims?

Isola at Pirelli said that wear is higher because of the weather that has swept through Japan recently and the asphalt is more abrasive. A two-stopper seems to be quicker by 10-15 seconds but teams might not run it because of traffic and that's it hard to pass (only one DRS zone). Last year pitstops came between lap 20 and 30 depending on the compound at the start. If the softs go off earlier than last year (as they are softer) running the mediums for 35+ laps may be slower than two stints on the supersofts and an extra pitstop. Times are still at least one second off last year's pole. Let's see what happens in FP3.

I was watching F1 in 1992, do you remember how that went for Ferrari? No podiums. Yet I watched as did millions of other Ferrari fans. Supporting a team or an athlete when they are winning is easy, but that is not the point. Being a fan of the great sport that is racing is the point. If Ferrari doesn't win, I will be very sad, but you still have to support your favourite and enjoy the racing.

There was still a chance to win. There is no chance now. With the FIA, the tire manufacturer both stacking the deck in favor of one driver. The bias is obvious, Ferrari has no chance.

There was still a chance to win. There is no chance now. With the FIA, the tire manufacturer both stacking the deck in favor of one driver. The bias is obvious, Ferrari has no chance.

There are many things I currently don't like much about formula 1 these days. I have been watching it since 1986 and one of the things I particularly don't like is DRS. Somehow this loophole invented by McLaren was not deemed illegal. They Frankensteined it into what have today. Have you ever seen a car being overtaken by another car, and the car that has been overtaken, overtaking the other again with DRS? The other is a sitting duck. Because defending it is almost impossible, by risk of being investigated. Then there is too much interference by the FIA during a race. Some stewards are quite fanatic, handing em out left and right. Sometimes destroying a promising race. And to my taste they are a bit too often kind to Mercedes. Now we have the FIA scrutinizing our battery setup. And why is Ferrari the only one being looked at? I sure hope it wasn't due to us having to shut our trick down because of it. But it seems that we have tire issues. Anything can happen in F1. Hamilton is not unbeatable. I am pretty upbeat about having Leclerc for next year. Let's see if we have a Vettel as wingman Let's hope our guys and our Merlin Binotto can cook some magic to turn it around. But I can understand the whole situation, it hurts. I am going to watch qualify and the race. Because you never know...

ham fastest in sector 1 + 2 during the rain, than ferrari set during the dry

hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

kimi went off and almost hit the barrier, might be combination of wind and poor balance

hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

not looking good. cars might'v damaged some of the new tyres already before even putting in a final time, seb complaining about rear of the car in sector 1

hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

seb half a second lost in sector 1 to ham , the one best needed for cornering speed and balance, closer than yesterday though for what its worth

hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

sky said mercs running with a very flat bottom compared to ferrari's high rake, which merc could be testing by raising it a bit in fp3 resulting in a slight loss of DF for them

probably they will go back to there flat bottom rake for quali & race

hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

lol slow mo shot of sainz with an evil smile after footage of hulks incident

hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

Renault boss said the traces are definitely showing that ferrari is losing a bit compared to before (he believes battery related) but also the other ferrari engine cars are also showing a slight loss now, but also big increase by Mercedes as they can see by Force india improvements in gps data

hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

Renault boss said the traces are definitely showing that ferrari is losing a bit compared to before (he believes battery related) but also the other ferrari engine cars are also showing a slight loss now, but also big increase by Mercedes as they can see by Force india improvements in gps data

That is completely incorrect. It feels to me that youíve manipulated that to suit your own view.

He said Mercedes has moved forward, because Mercedes powered teams have too. He said he performance is always relative to the other teams, and it seems Mercedes have moved forward - and not that Ferrari has gone backwards.

Renault boss said the traces are definitely showing that ferrari is losing a bit compared to before (he believes battery related) but also the other ferrari engine cars are also showing a slight loss now, but also big increase by Mercedes as they can see by Force india improvements in gps data

Why do you spew lies?

"If someone said to me that you can have three wishes, my first would have been to get into racing, my second to be in Formula 1, my third to drive for Ferrari" - Gilles Villeneuve

That is completely incorrect. It feels to me that you’ve manipulated that to suit your own view.

He said Mercedes has moved forward, because Mercedes powered teams have too. He said he performance is always relative to the other teams, and it seems Mercedes have moved forward - and not that Ferrari has gone backwards.

He also didn’t mention the battery at all.

99% sure he did, but you have the entire quote then i cant argue, do you have the bit when he spoke about traces and ferrari stuff?

hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

lol hopefully someone can upload a replay or vid and if i care enough to remember you ill link it hopefully (will try my best), if im wrong then lol and if i was right then whatever

hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

99% sure he did, but you have the entire quote then i cant argue, do you have the bit when he spoke about traces and ferrari stuff?

I don’t have it, because I watched it live on Sky just as you did.
I have no reason to lie. I, however, know you’re lying. Intentionally or not I don’t know - but it’s up to you to own it, or to continue to demand that I provide evidence you may or may not already know disproves your argument.

I will scour twitter for the excerpt in the meantime - but I do think you should either:
1) pay closer attention or
2) be honest and forthright with information you disseminate here. Others may not have access to the Sky coverage, for example, and you’re informing those people. Have some respect.

good point from sky italia guy, how is private info slipping into the media, M.A not happy about sensor issues, although apparently it has nothing to do with the loss in performance. said the car at sochi was different from the one at monza

hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

any info on weather? looks good at the moment . simon said dark clouds around with on and off raining (paraphrase as usual)

hockenheim 2018 / China 2018 : Never forget how quick Ferrari can lose it all, be humble.
Positivity doesn't win you championships, whining about people being negative makes you blind!
lol ignore the bitter old cows ;-)

Its not the steering wheel they are spying on, it’s the settings we input prior to qualy and the race. Nothing to be gained when it’s parked at the podium.

exactly. Do you ever recall the tech guy sitting in the cockpit with his laptop? THAT is the issue as those cameras are running for longer hours and not just during a lap. If you recall during the formation lap Seb and Kimi have to set their cars for the launch sequence, cameras are uncovered and visible to everyone so I still don't think it is any settings on the steering. The "Laptop guy" sets engine maps, ERS power modes etc.